Green Bean Polenta Fries

I didn’t really know what I felt like eating tonight but I knew we needed to make a dent in the green beans so I decided to make some green bean polenta fries, a dip to go with them and some roasted veg just to bulk it up!

I had seen broad bean and polenta fries before so I thought I’d just give that type of thing a go and actually it worked really well 🙂

Have I mentioned that polenta is one of my favourite foods yet? It’s just so versatile, you can eat it like a mash (like here) or leave it chill and then fry it which is what I did today. The best thing about it is that it’s very easy to flavour and therefore never has to be bland, experiment with it and see! The dip is one I saw from Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diaries II and it’s very simple and tasty, I actually think it would also make a nice pasta sauce too! I mixed some beetroot chutney with the roasted carrots and parsnips; the tangy beetroot cut through the sticky sweetness of the veg nicely. My mum actually made this chutney with beetroot she grew this year! It is really tasty and gets better the longer you leave it, see the recipe here.

Green Bean Polenta Fries with a Tomato and Rosemary Dip

Fries (for 3):

8 tbsp polenta
500ml veg stock
A good handful of green beans, topped tailed and chopped into 1cm pieces
Knob of butter
3 tbsp mature cheddar, grated
1 tsp rosemary, chopped
oil, for deep frying- First blanch the beans and drain.
– Bring the stock to the boil in a saucepan, tip in the polenta stirring constantly. Turn down the heat and stir until thickened.
– Once it’s ready (around 3/5mins for instant polenta, when it comes away from the side of the pan but is still runny), take off the heat and stir in the butter, cheese and herbs followed by the beans. Season.
– Spread out thinly onto a baking try covered with greaseproof paper and put in the fridge for at least 15 mins to set.
– Heat a pan of oil up and meanwhile rip up the set polenta into bite size pieces.
– Fry in batches, this should take about 4mins and should become golden. Take out with a slotted spoon, leave on kitchen roll to soak up excess oil and keep warm. Season with salt and eat straight away!

Tomato and Rosemary Dip:

3 tbsp olive oil

6 anchovy fillets, patted dry with kitchen towel and finely chopped
1 tbsp rosemary, chopped
1 clove of garlic, sliced
16 cherry tomatoes, quartered- Heat one tbsp of olive oil in a small pan over a moderate and add the anchovies.
– When the anchovies are starting to ‘melt’ stir in the rosemary and garlic and cook for a few more minutes.
– Then add the tomatoes and cook until squishy (about 5 mins).
– Season with pepper only and add the remaining 2 tbsp of oil and simmer for another 15mins until thickened, enjoy hot!